Dumbledore
Gandalf
Obi-Wan
+ Defeated Grindelwald, the 2nd most dangerous Dark Wizard of all time. Had him imprisoned.
Worried Voldemort, but never battled him directly.++ Defeated a friggin' Balrog in hand to hand combat, and then defeated Saruman, the 2nd most dangerous Evil Wizard, who was then killed.
Worried Sauron, but never battled him directly.++ Brutally maimed Vader, a former friend and 2nd most powerful Sith Lord. Also killed countless Imperial troopers.
Did the Evil Emperor even know about him?- No known sword skills + Does a lot of sword fighting as well as using staff. ++ Most powerful sword of the three. - Stayed dead, no advice from the grave ++ Came back from the dead as Gandalf the White + Stayed dead, but could offer advice from the grave. ++ Can teleport(!) himself with magic. -- Rides a horse, for days and days and days.... + Flies in space ships, can probably levitate himself with great effort. ++ Faster at magic and does it frequently. - Needs a staff to do magic - Almost no magic, only limited telekinesis.
Imagining all three of them in a fair fight where they all had some prep time, I give Dumbledore the win due to speed, more magic, creativity, ability to control time, advanced planning and deviousness. Of course, Obi-Wan could do a lot of damage with blasters from a space ship... If there was no foreknowledge and you just stuck them all in a room and told them to kill or be killed, ready GO! Would Gandalf's staff survive a direct hit with a light saber? I think not. Obi-Wan is fast, but with a small flick of his wand, Dumbledore would immobilize the other two. I may be missing some important deciding factors, however.
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10 comments:
I really thought Gandalf would have a landslide victory here but....
I'm with you, Ian. He is immortal, after all, and not by some learned skill but instead by his very nature. But I can see how someone with only a superficial knowledge of Tolkien's work might not understand just how insanely outmatched Dumbledore or Obi-Wan would be...
Gandalf was played down somewhat in most of the story . You have to read between the lines . Gandalf was essentially a higher being virtually God like in nature . He was very modestly portrayed through most of the story . Gandalf was virtually God ! A good against evil story . Not so much with Dumbledore or Obi-Wan ( being God ) Though there are obvious similarities . Essentially Dumbledore and Obi-Wan were tapping a higher source, Gandalf pretty much was the higher source ! Sort of ;-)
Well, really, Mirlen, Gandalf was much more analogous to an Angel of Christianity -- as were the other wizards, balrogs and Sauron himself. Though their forms on Arda were different, they were the same kind of being. In fact, to be specific, these entities were "maiar," which were "lesser angels" in the hierarchy. The "God" of Tolkien's Universe was Eru Illuvatar, and there were no other beings of like kind to him.
My reasoning was the Gandalf could keep coming back to life, but it takes him some time to do that and anyway this is a one time match. You die, you lose.
Now if Gandalf is immortal and can never really die, then yes, I guess he would win any "Death match" by definition... eventually... by letting Dumbledore die of old age. Hehehe.
You are definitely more expert on the matter then anyone here . I read all the books may years ago . I did do the whole trilogy and Hobbit over not long ago on audio book though . When I read the The Silmarillion years ago I was bored to tears ! Most people seem to feel the same .( It was put together by the son from JRR Tolkien's notes etc..) Sounds like you feel differently though about the Silmarillion ;-) I did say Gandalf = God ( sort of ;-) I was mostly referring to the trilogy and hobbit books not including the real specifics in the The Silmarillion . So yes I agree with you ;-)
Another point is Obi-Wan dead ! Just a spirit ! Dumbledore DEAD ! Gandalf died and came back even stronger ! That kind of settles the whole issue ;-)I mean he's the only one who survived ! ;-) So it's like beating a dead horse isn't it ! ;-)
Look my smiley faces formed the little dipper ! ( Sort of ;-)
I said Gandalf died , but did he ? You said "took time to come back" Xeno . But did it take time ? I'm not sure it did . We might just think it did by the way the book describes it . Sam should know the answer ;-) Remember Albus Dumbledore was slain by Severus Snape a lesser foe he was definitely killed ! But was Gandalf really dead ?
I do love the Silmarillion, yes. But there are other texts in which Tolkien (J.R.R.) himself made a lot of aspects of his world explicit, and for the most part, I try only to refer to the "definitely the word of Tolkien" material when debating. Stuff that his son did not, you know, "editorially assemble," but simply published with little, if any, tampering. (Which is not to say I do not enjoy the assembled stuff as well, but I always make that distinction between what was definitely "word of Tolkien" and what was "probably the word of Tolkien, or at least near it.")
I was going to let it go, you know, Xeno's remark about it taking time for Gandalf to come back, but since you brought it up... No, it really doesn't take time for Gandalf to come back. He comes and goes as it is decided for him. When he first went to Middle-earth, he sailed there from "The West," and his mission was to influence and rally the "Free Peoples" to resist Sauron. (He was, in fact, the last wizard to arrive.) After fighting the Balrog, he came back by simply appearing where it was deemed best for him to be, which was practically in the middle of the action, for that was where and when he was needed. Any delay between "dying" and reappearing was a strategic decision, and does not actually reflect any sort of "mandatory lag" due to inability.
My wife and I are both big readers, and we've entered into a stage of "Did you know that X was Y?" concerning Tolkien's work. So yeah, getting to be an expert. Or a know-it-all.
Thanks Sam that's pretty much what I thought ;-) Quite an undertaking to be an expert on Tolkien . Reading the Silmarillion one finds a hint of the magnitude of it all . Can't think of any fictional book or books of that depth and magnitude . Tolkien created a whole world based on myths and legends . I've always thought that this should be made into a television series . But I guess that could or would ruin the whole thing ;-/
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